Bearing unit



July 15, 1941. H. ROSENBERG- BEARING UNIT Filed Aug. 29, 1939 ATTO NEY Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT V ()FFI'CE BEARING UNIT Heyman Rosenberg, New York, N. Yr Application August 29, 1939 ,S fial N0. 292,401 1 Claim. (o 16-176) This invention relates to bearing units, and more particularly to units of the kind which are adapted to be secured to a damper for rotatably mounting the damper in a fluid transmitting duct.

The invention is particularly intended for,

mounting dampers in fiues and in ventilating or air conditioning ducts. Such ducts are commonly either circular orrectangular in cross-section and may be deformed to a limited extent for facilitating the insertion and emplacement of a damper with a single protruding bearing unit attached. An installation, however, requires that a plurality of aligned bearing members be attached to the damper to project beyond opposite edges of the damper, so that stable pivotal mounting of the damper may be secured by lodging the bearing members in openings formed in opposite sides of the duct. It is not feasible to insert a damper with two aligned and opposed, projecting bearing members fixed in place.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bearing unit of the kind which includes a retractible bearing pin, and which may be attached to a damper prior to the installation of the damper in a duct, the bearing pin being adapted to be held retracted or partially retracted during the insertion of the damper in the duct.

It is a more particular object to provide a bearing unit of the kind referred to which con sists of few and simple parts, which admits of assembly in an extremely rapid, convenient and economical manner, and which is capable of performing its intended service eificiently and dependably. i

To these ends it is a salient feature of the invention that a bearing unit is provided which comprises an attaching and supporting plate having opposed inner and outer bearing members, a retractible bearing pin slidingly mounted in the openings of the bearing members, and a compression coil spring disposed between the bearing members and surrounding the pin for projecting the pin outward, the pin being formed with a circumferentially extending groove, and the spring having the outermost turn thereof of smaller diameter than the other turns and lodged in the groove, but of large enough diameter to project partially beyond the circumference of the pin to form an abutment for engaging the outer hearing member to limit outward movement of the pin.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification and illustrating a practical and advantageous embodiment of the invention: Figure 1*is a fragmentary, sectional view of a duct having a damper therein, and includes a damper bearing embodying features of the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken upon the line 22 of Figure'3;

1 Figure 3 is afrag'mentary, detail view in elevation, showing the improved bearing of the the damper and through 'a hole 4 formed in the The stem 3-is square and is de'-' upper duct-wall. signed to pass-through a dial plate 5 and to cooperate with a handle 6 mounted upon the upper side of the duct. 'The dial plate and handle structure are desirably of the construction disclosed in Letters Patent of the United StatesNo. 2,129,505, forDa-mper control device, granted to me on September 6, 1988. I I

v 'The dam-per blade 2 also has affixed to it a bearing unit 1, which includes a bearing pin-8 inthe form of a retractiblesplunger. ingpin 8 is passedthrough a circular opening 9 in the lower wall of the duct I and is'mounted upon the damper blade in position to be in alignment with the stem'or bearing member 3.

The' bearing pin 8 is carriedby aone-piece, sheet metal, attaching and supporting plate"). The plate I0 is formed with opposed upper and lower, parallel bearing members or ears II and [2, which are bent at right-angles from the main body of the plate, and formed with aligned openings in which the pin is rotatably and slidably mounted. Wing portions of the plate have perfo rations formed in them for the reception of suitable fastening members such as rivets 13, whereby the attaching plate is secured to the damper 2. The bearing pin has'one or morelug s l4, (two as illustrated) which are desirably integral with the pin, and which may be formed by applying de-" forming pressure to portions of the pin. The bearing pin 8 has a knurled head I5 which may the The bearbe used for rotating the pin and for pulling it lengthwise when it is desired to withdraw the pin to a retracted position.

The bearing pin 8 is also provided with a circumferential groove I6 in which the smallest, lowermost turn I! of a tapering coil spring I8 is adapted to be lodged. The spring I8 is of large enough diameter at its upper end to extend around the lugs l4 without interfering with the free movement of the lugs. While the spring is of substantially ope'n construction throughout the major portion of its length, a few of the turns l9 at the extreme inner or upper end of the spring are disposed in contiguous relation, or substantially contiguous relation, to one another, so that the lugs l4 cannot by any chance become lodged between turns of the spring. Theupper end of the spring l8 always bears against the lower face of the inner ear ll. transmits pressure to the bearing pin through the lower turn I! of the spring which is lodged in the groove 16. With the exception of the lower turn ll, all of the turns of the spring are of large enough diameter to permit the bearing pin to pass freely through them.

The lowermost turn I! of the spring, which is seated in the groove I6, is disposed to have its outer portion projecting outward beyond the normal circumference of the bearing pin so that this lowermost turn forms an end abutment for engaging the outer ear l2, and for serving as a stop to limit outward movement of the bearing pin 8.

Each of the ears II and I2 is formed with two diametrically opposed notches 20. bearing unit is fully assembled, only the notches of the upper ear I I serve any purpose. The purpose of providing the notches is to permit the lugs M to pass upward through the upper ear ll so that the bearing pin can be withdrawn to a retracted position for inserting the damper into a duct. The lugs are provided so that the bearing pin can be secured in its projected position after thedamper, with its attached bearings, has been put into place. projected outward through the hole 9 of the duct I, the operator simply gives a partial turn to the knurled head of the pin 8 so as to locate the lugs l4 out of alignment with the notchesin the upper ear H.

. It has been mentioned that both the ears] I and I2 are formed with two notches, notwithstanding the fact that the notches in the ear l2 perform no function after the device is assembled. The importance of this symmetry of construction of the attaching plate resides in its usefulnessat the assembling operation. If only one ear were notched, then the assembler might pick up a bearing plate with the notched ear toward him or with the unnotched ear toward him. On the average, he would pick up the plate wrong When the Thus, when the pin 8 has been The spring placed between the ears I! and I2. ,then passed through the ears and the spring to half the time, and would have to turn it over. He would, moreover, be required to examine every plate that he picks up with a view to discriminating between the two ends of it. By making the ears H and I2 exact duplicates of one another, the assembly is made very much more convenient, efficient and economical. Whichever end the assembler turns up will be right, so that no discrimination is required of him, and no turning of theplate is necessary.

The general method of assembly of the bearing unit I will be readily apparent from the foregoing description of the parts. The spring I8 is first The pin is aposition like that of Figures 1, 3 and 4. As soon as the groove l6 comes opposite the turn I! of the spring, the turn I! of the spring snaps into the groove so that the assembly is complete.

Each individual unit is attached to a damper blade 2 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1. The operator retracts the pin so that its lower extremity stands substantially flush with the lower face of the lower ear l2 while starting the damper into the duct. After the damper has been 10- cated-within the duct, the pin 8 may be released by the operator, since the duct wall itself will.

prevent the pin 8 from springing outward to an interfering position. The damper is then manipulated until the pin 8 finds the opening 9 in the duct wall, whereupon the pin is snapped out through the opening 9-to a position like that illustratedin Figs. 2 and 3. The mechanic then turns the head 15 of the pin 8 to lodge the lugs l4 out of alignment with the notches 28 of the upper ear, so that the bearing pin is secured against accidental retraction.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiments of my invention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodiments shown, but what I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a bearing unit, in combination, an attaching and supporting plate having opposed inner and outer bearing members formed with aligned openings, a retractible bearing pin slidingly and rotatively mounted in the openings of the bearing members, and a compression coil spring disposed between the bearing members and surrounding the pinfor projecting the pin outward, said pin being formed with a circumferentially extending groove, and said spring having the outermost turn thereof of smaller diameter than the other turns and lodged in the groove, but of large enough diameter to project partially beyond the circumierence of the pin to form an abutment for engaging the outer bearing member to limit outward movement of -the pin.

- ,HEYMAN ROSENBERG. 

